Everything's Gone Green: An Interview With Paul Fox

The Canadian featureEverything's Gone Green makes its wide release today after having spent a little bit of time on the festival circuit. The first ever screenplay by Vancouverite author Douglas Coupland takes his wacky world one step further with this charming comedy. Paulo Costanza and Steph Song star as 20 something's trying to find their way in life in the face of possibly being jaded(!) That's a really awful pun by the way but thought the point should be made.

With a film so on par with the JXM thinking we had to get a hold of the director, Paul Fox, and grill him about his techniques, storytelling chops and of course the odd the western.

JXM: How are you?

Paul: Good!

JXM: Everything's Gone Green was produced by Radke, a production company known primarily for its commercials. How did you, Douglas Coupland, and Radke, all come together for the making of this film?

Paul: Radke had gone to a place where they wanted to expand into feature films and so they went out actively seeking out projects to be their first feature. I think because they are new to it and they kind of have creative approaches to doing things, what they did was they actually went out and cold-called a bunch of people who already had reputations in other artistic fields such as musicians, sculptors and architects and simply asked them if they had tried their hand at screenwriting, knowing that a lot of people at one time or another give that a crack. It was actually, I think, surprising to them how many had in fact taken a stab at writing a script and had one sitting in a drawer. So they read a whole bunch of these screenplays and some of them were very strange, and others almost completely incomprehensible, but I think Doug, because he already worked in a literary and narrative realm with his books, his was the most coherent and accessible and also felt like a natural extension of his literary work. So I think that was an interesting way for them to approach and find material, and go a little outside of the box and I think it's been successful because the film, to me, successfully feels like an extension of Doug's work and it also comes in with a built-in fanbase.

JXM: Were a part of the people they contacted through cold calls?

Paul: Being a commercial house, they certainly have directors they work with from all over the world. I know that they talked to some directors from the UK, the states and from Canada and I had never worked with Radke but I knew [producers] Chris Nanos a little bit and Scott Mackenzie just through other sort of realms and they brought me in. And it was fairly apparent pretty quickly that when we started talking with Doug, the producers, and myself, that we all saw the same movie, we were all in synch, so that's all how we came together and decided to do it.

JXM: Everything's Gone Green has been getting well received throughout festivals. Do you still get nervous showing the film from festival to festival?

Paul: It depends, you know, certain ones I do, it depends on the festival. I've sort of gotten to the point where I stopped watching. I'll introduce it then I'll go away and hover in the lobby and listen to how the crowd responsed at the end of the movie. There are certain festivals that are higher stakes or have certain benchmarks to them, like the Toronto International Film Festival was our world premiere it was our first time screening to a public audience so that was a bit nerve-wracking. And Vancouver had its own thing because it was the hometown crowd - and me being a Toronto filmmaker making a movie about Vancouver - I really wanted to make sure that they liked it and felt they were well represented. Austin Texas, was our first US premiere so that was a little nerve-wracking. So there are certain festivals where the stakes are a little higher and I go in a little more stressed about how its going to go.

JXM: Coupland has always had this unique and accurate way of writing life in your 20's, from the disappointments to the lack of ambition to the all out frustration that life isn't quite what you thought it was. Did you connect with these concepts or draw on personal experiences for Everything's Gone Green?

Paul: Yeah, I think everybody does to a certain extent. Also in this particular film it's about finding your path and determine who you are and how you're going to conduct yourself in the world amongst other people. He's at that point where he has to go out and figure out what's right for him, and he sees everybody around him succeeding and choosing these paths that aren't necessarily ethically or even legally appropriate and he has to determine what feels right for him and at what cost. To be successful, but at what cost, is it worth it to keep up with the Jones.

JXM:For Everything's Gone Green did you have to keep in mind Coupland's previous works such as Generation X and JPod to create the Everything's Gone Green world? Or did you try to create a film completely independent of the Coupland universe?

Paul: Somewhat, yeah, but not in specifics as much as try to capture the overall flavour of the Coupland world. And of course none of those books have been made into movies before so it was really kind of an interesting challenge to look at the books and think visually and tonally what the film equivalent of that is. So that was sort of an interesting challenge, but I think definitely for those who read the books, there is definitely a flavour and specific tone - I've heard it called Couplandesque - I think we really wanted to make sure that came across on screen. So I think in terms of ways of working with actors and directing the comedy in terms of the tone and shooting style and rhythm and musical choices and compositional choices, all of that sort of set in to trying to create something that felt like Doug's books.

JXM: Do you then feel like you've lost your stamp on the film as a director?

Paul: No, not at all. I feel as a director that my stamp is always going to be there. And when you're working from a known author who already has a voice, I think it's the same as David Lean doing Oliver Twist and trying to capture Dickens or Orson Welles doing The Trial trying to capture Kafka, you know you're still the filmmaker but you're definitely wanting to impart a sense of the original source or the original author.

JXM: What would be the one thing that you would like viewers to take away from Everything's Gone Green?

Paul:Ultimately it's a comedy and I would like people to be entertained and have a good time with it, but also, unlike Dude Where's My Car, it should be thought provoking and leave you amused but also with a little something to chew on.

JXM: You've directed both for television and film. What are the main challenges you've discovered moving between the two?

Paul:There's not a lot in terms of moving between them. I guess the main differenence is in movies as a director is that you're there right from the outset of the project. You're much more involved in working with the writer to bringing the script to where it needs to be, making all the casting choices, choosing all the key creative positions from the cinematographer to the production designer and then determining the look of the film, the feel of the film and the music and then carrying it right through to the sound and editing process. So you're much more the completist as the director of the film whereas in television you often get parachuted into an existing world where the sets are already built, and the cast is already there, and even the basic style of the show is in place, but you're still bringing your storytelling chops to it, but you're not forging it out of a whole cloth like you are with a movie. That said, the great thing about television is that you get to continually work your craft, you're working with crew, working with story, working with actors, so it's great on that level.

JXM: Your features The Dark Hours and Everything's Gone Green are vastly different. Do you have any particular preference for either genre?

Paul: No, I've always said that I'd really like to have a career like Howard Hawks back in the 40's where he can do a western one year, then a screwball comedy, then a gangster movie. I think Ang Lee is sort of doing the same thing now where he does a period drama, then a Marvel comics' adaptation and then a gay western (laughs). For me what interests me is good story and interesting characters and I'd be quite happy to jump genres and in fact I'd prefer to. It keeps it interesting and allows you to flex different visual and directorial muscles.

JXM: Are there other genres you are interested in and would like to tackle at some point during your career?

Paul: My favourite movies are westerns, so I would love to do a western. I would like to do a contempory western that's kind of set in the west of today. And I think of movies like The Last Picture Show, or a proper period wenstern.

JXM: Are there any works or filmmakers that have inspired or influenced Everything's Gone Green?

Paul: A few. I would say The Graduate was a bit of an influence in terms of the way of balancing comedy and drama. I didn't want to make a straight, out and out comedy because it's coming from Doug it should be something that's kind of thought provoking and have it's quiet dramatic elements to it. The other one is Billy Wilder's films like The Apartment I think tread that same line of comedy and drama very well.

JXM: Are there any films or filmmakers that inspire you?

Paul: It changes from film to film. Like this film was the Wilder films and The Graduate. And when I was working on The Dark Hours it was definitely being more set into by early Polanski films like Repulsion, The Tenant and Rosemary's Baby, and early Hitchcock films. I'm a big movie buff and my personal movie collection spans all sorts of genres, so depending on what I'm working on, the references come from that. My favourite filmmaker would be John Ford who did mostly westerns in the 40's and I've always liked his elegant and bare simple storytelling style, so that's something that's influenced me the most. With The Dark Hours we were trying to go for something a little more elegant than the kind of in your face, Saw, Hostel, torture/porn/horror that's out now and go back to something with a little bit of grace and have that slowly building sense of dread. Definitely referencing pre-1970 horror, whether its Polanski or Hitchcock or even earlier.

JXM: Many directors have found that their experiences as an editor has greatly aided in their directing. Do you feel the same?

Paul: Absolutely, I think it's a great way into directing simply because as an editor you're working with story and assembling then reworking. Editing has always been talked about as being the third stage of directing. You make it once when writing, then you remake it in the shooting, then you make it again in the editing, and it's true. You get this raw material and move it around in a million different configurations and try different things, restructure it, rework it and add different types of music. I think it's amazing that you can make 50 different versions of the movie in editing so you really do learn about storytelling and developing character and editing for character in terms of which takes to use. And when you're prepping to make a movie and direct a movie and planning to direct a movie, having that background where you already know how images work together, what you need and how to get to the essence of an idea, is invaluable.

JXM: Working with actors and treating a performance is also key in directing. What would you say is the best approach when working with actors?

Paul: A lot of it is learning how to communicate with actors and how to give directions that are actually workable. I think directions like "be happy" or "be sad" can lead to mimicry and you have to be really careful in terms of the terminology you use when speaking to actors to make sure you're getting the best out of them. I think a lot of it also comes down to trust. Actors can be in a very vulnerable place and if they don't trust the director to guide them through it, because sometimes you want them to go bigger, bolder or rawer, they have to know that if they're going to go there for you that they have to trust that you're watching their back and you're going to make sure that they come off well and look good. So early on, right in the beginning of the relationship with an actor, is letting them know that you're there working with them and listening to them, and I think too many directors shut down that line of communication which I think is sort of detrimental.

JXM: All the directors we've spoken to have had different paths to getting where they are today. Is there any advice you can give to aspiring directors?

Paul: I think the paths are all different, I think the key thing really is finding a way to make things, whether you can make short films or music videos - well I guess if you're going to work in drama or narrative it's just finding ways to make drama whether you do it through the CFC or film school or scrounge your own money together, the thing is you have to keep making stuff and getting it in front of people and doing it again. You need to start to establish yourself and expand on it. And yes, film school is great, I've been to film school and I learned lots, but you don't learn nearly as much as you do from actually shooting stuff, which is hitting the ground running and working with crews, and actors, and all of the trials and tribulations of getting the film made is sort of the best way to learn. Then of course screening it for people and seeing how people react is a great learning experience too - knowing what works and what doesn't. Then just getting your name out there, getting your films out there into festivals, and I think you just have to keep doing that.

JXM: Thanks so much for talking with us!

JXM: Thank you!

Check out awesome Everything's Gone Green outtakes here!